The Florida Lottery expanded its line of scratch-off games this month.

When Florida Lottery introduced Maximum Money, Bonus Crossword, Double Deuces, Fast $100 and Lucky 7, the agency made it a point to mention the scratch-off line had generated more than $734 million for Florida education in the past fiscal year.

The question we always get, without fail, on these lottery stories is where do these education dollars go.

The answer is not cut and dry.

Lotto dollars for education

When Florida established its lottery program in 1987, state lawmakers said the money would go to enhance education (not replace education funds).

Over the years, that’s come to mean different things than the average public may have intended.

The money from the Florida Lottery for education goes to the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund. This fund also includes money from a tax on slot machine revenues.

According to the Florida Lottery, 26 cents of every dollar goes to education, on average. Some 65 percent on average is used for the Lottery jackpots. Another 5.5 percent is paid in bonuses to retailers who sell winning tickets. The rest pays out to vendors and then for operating expenses.

The Florida Lottery breaks down how much money has gone to each school district through the Educational Enhancement Trust Fund going back to the lottery’s inception. The payouts change year to year, and in some cases the drop is considerable.

Where the money goes

In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, $1.667 billion went into the fund. That's according to the Florida Dept. of Education's 2015-2016 Education Appropriations report. Here’s how that money breaks down:

Money for college, student aid

First off, $239.8 million go toward the Bright Futures Scholarship Program. The program, which did not exist until 1997, 10 years after the Lottery was established, is solely funded by the trust fund.

Then, Florida universities get a sizeable amount of the money: over $245 million for “Education and General Activities” to the state's public universities alone.

University of Florida got the most money, $45 million, followed by Florida State University, University of Central Florida and University of South Florida.

Medical programs for Florida State University, University of Florida and University of South Florida also got $15.7 million.

UF’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences also gets around $12.5 million.

The state colleges also get a chunk of money. In 2015-2016 fiscal year, the Florida College System got $244.9 million.

Public K-12 school funds

K-12 public schools get the largest chunk of money, but that is specifically broken down.

In 1997, the Legislature started a funding program, using some of the trust fund dollars for capital outlay. That’s building schools, but also renovating and repairing them. These funds are supposed to help get kids out of portables and ease overcrowding.

Then in 2003, the Legislature decided to use trust fund dollars to help school district comply with the class-size amendments.

Trust fund dollars are also used for the Florida Education Finance Program, which was established back in 1973 to equalize funding based on a formula so students get programs and services, regardless of geographic or local economic factors. Everything from local property tax bases to program costs to costs of living goes into the FEFP formula.

Trust fund dollars are also used to fund bonuses for schools that achieve high grades. How those bonuses are used are determined by the schools themselves, but there are restrictions on how that money can be used -- for faculty and staff bonuses, to purchases some educational equipment and materials, or for temporary personnel to help student performance.

Some of the money also goes to workforce education.

Public schools systems got $536.9 million for fiscal year 2015-2016, not accounting for “fixed capital outlay funds.”

The Florida Dept. of Education makes it a point to note that the money would be just enough to operate public schools for about five days.

While the state contends lottery dollars still enhance public education, some education advocates see the way the state has handled the money as stretching the Legislature’s original intent.

Among those programs, according to Florida Education Association’s spokesman Mark Pudlow, is the Bright Futures Scholarship program.

“When political leaders first proposed the Lottery, the stated intention was to enhance funding for public schools – giving the chance for public schools to get more revenue. Once the voters passed the Lottery, political leaders went back on their word and Lottery money went into general revenue. In subsequent years, political leaders have earmarked the Lottery revenue for a variety of things, such as Bright Futures scholarships.

“Rather than enhance our public schools, Lottery money became part of the regular revenue and the added money that came to the state ended up going elsewhere. We’re disappointed in that, especially since Florida still ranks near the bottom of all the states with regards to spending on public education.”